Investing.com – Crude oil futures held on to gains on Thursday, trading close to the previous session’s five-week high after a government report showed U.S. crude supplies fell-more-than-expected last week, while gasoline inventories rose unexpectedly.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in October traded at USD89.92 a barrel during U.S. morning trade, climbing 0.65%.
It earlier rose as much as 0.89% to trade at USD90.28 a barrel, just below the previous day’s five-week high of USD90.39 a barrel.
The contract traded at USD89.96 prior to the release of the Energy Information Administration data.
The U.S. EIA said in its weekly report that U.S. crude oil inventories declined by 4.0 million barrels in the week ended September 2, nearly doubling expectations for a 2.2 million barrel decline.
U.S. crude supplies rose by 5.3 million barrels in the preceding week.
Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 353.1 million barrels as of last week, remaining above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year.
Total motor gasoline inventories increased by 0.2 million barrels, confounding expectations for a 1.4 million barrel drop.
Energy traders have been closely eyeing gasoline stockpiles in recent weeks to gauge the strength of U.S. demand, as the U.S. driving season is currently in the period of peak gasoline demand.
Meanwhile, markets continued to look ahead to highly-anticipated speeches from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and from U.S. President Barack Obama later in the day.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for October delivery added 0.43% to trade at USD116.44 a barrel, up USD26.52 a barrel on its U.S. counterpart, re-approaching the record high of USD26.87.
Wall Street bank JP Morgan Chase said in a report earlier, "The demand picture is a mixed bag in the U.S. with unemployment, stagnant income growth and efficiency weighing on oil and gasoline consumption."
The lender added that fears over the U.S. economic outlook and concerns over supply disruptions in Africa and in the North Sea was the main driver behind the record high premium between the crude and Brent contracts.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in October traded at USD89.92 a barrel during U.S. morning trade, climbing 0.65%.
It earlier rose as much as 0.89% to trade at USD90.28 a barrel, just below the previous day’s five-week high of USD90.39 a barrel.
The contract traded at USD89.96 prior to the release of the Energy Information Administration data.
The U.S. EIA said in its weekly report that U.S. crude oil inventories declined by 4.0 million barrels in the week ended September 2, nearly doubling expectations for a 2.2 million barrel decline.
U.S. crude supplies rose by 5.3 million barrels in the preceding week.
Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 353.1 million barrels as of last week, remaining above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year.
Total motor gasoline inventories increased by 0.2 million barrels, confounding expectations for a 1.4 million barrel drop.
Energy traders have been closely eyeing gasoline stockpiles in recent weeks to gauge the strength of U.S. demand, as the U.S. driving season is currently in the period of peak gasoline demand.
Meanwhile, markets continued to look ahead to highly-anticipated speeches from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and from U.S. President Barack Obama later in the day.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for October delivery added 0.43% to trade at USD116.44 a barrel, up USD26.52 a barrel on its U.S. counterpart, re-approaching the record high of USD26.87.
Wall Street bank JP Morgan Chase said in a report earlier, "The demand picture is a mixed bag in the U.S. with unemployment, stagnant income growth and efficiency weighing on oil and gasoline consumption."
The lender added that fears over the U.S. economic outlook and concerns over supply disruptions in Africa and in the North Sea was the main driver behind the record high premium between the crude and Brent contracts.